Restricted Data Processing
What Is Restricted Data Processing?
Restricted Data Processing, often shortened to RDP, is a mode in Google Ads that limits what Google does with the data your site sends it.
With it on, Google still records conversions so you can measure whether your ads are working. What it stops doing is using that data for anything beyond measurement: visitors aren't added to remarketing lists, and the personalization features that depend on those lists are unavailable.
Google introduced it in response to the California Consumer Privacy Act, and it now covers several US state privacy laws that give people the right to opt out of their data being sold or shared.
What Changes When It's On
Conversion tracking keeps working. Your Google Ads conversion actions still count purchases, leads, and sign-ups, and attributionThe process of determining which channels, campaigns, or actions contributed to a conversion, helping you understand what influenced a visitor’s decision to take action. still happens.
Remarketing stops. Visitors are no longer added to audience lists from your site, and you can't build customer match or similar audiences from that data.
Google also treats itself as a service provider for that data rather than a business using it for its own purposes. That's the legal distinction the mode exists for, and it's why "restricted" is in the name.
Site-wide or Per Visitor
Restricted Data Processing can be applied in two ways.
The first is for everyone. The tag on every page says restricted, and Google applies the limit to all visitors. This is the simple option, and it's the right one if you'd rather not do remarketing at all or don't want to work out who is covered by which law.
The second is per visitor, based on where they are and whether they've opted out. That keeps remarketing for people who haven't objected. It's more work, because something on your site has to make that decision correctly for each person.
Most small and medium sites choose the first. The remarketing they give up is often worth less than the complexity they avoid.
How It Compares to Consent Mode
Consent mode is Google's system for respecting what a visitor agreed to on your cookie banner. Restricted Data Processing is about what Google does with data after it's collected.
They answer different questions. Consent mode asks "can I collect this?" Restricted Data Processing asks "what can Google do with what was collected?" A site in Europe leans on consent mode. A site dealing with US state laws leans on Restricted Data Processing. Sites serving both use both.
How Conversion Bridge Helps
Conversion Bridge has an Enable Restricted Data Processing setting under the Google Ads platform's advanced options. Tick it and every conversion Conversion Bridge sends to Google Ads carries the restricted flag, for every visitor.
It's off by default. Conversion Bridge applies it site-wide rather than per visitor, which is the straightforward option described above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose conversion data?
No. Conversions are still recorded and attributed to your campaigns. That's the point of the mode: measurement stays, targeting stops.
Is this only for US sites?
It was built for US state laws, but nothing stops you using it anywhere. If you want Google to do less with your visitors' data, it's a reasonable setting regardless of where your audience is.
Do I still need a cookie banner?
Where the law requires consent before tracking, yes. Restricted Data Processing limits what Google does with data. It doesn't give you permission to collect it in the first place.